Spotify is considered by many people to be the king of music streaming and rightly so. Their platform has countless users happily listening along to their favorite artists and playlists.
However, there are times when technical issues occur and this can hamper our ability to access the content we want to listen to.
If you’ve been using Spotify on your desktop computer and found that it’s crashing on you, then don’t worry, in this article you can get to grips with the reasons why this is happening and how to solve it.
Spotify Is Crashing Because The Cache Needs To Be Cleared
The Spotify desktop app has had its share of user complaints over the years, one of the major gripes being that it has a tendency to crash or take a very long time to load up.
It’s taken a while to discover what the problem was, but thankfully, some smart folks got to the bottom of the issue and identified that it was to do with Spotify’s use of memory, or more precisely – the cache.
This is an issue for both Mac and PC users, but it is solved the same way – clearing the Spotify cache.
Mackeeper.com pointed out why this is necessary, stating:
“[The] Spotify cache is extremely poorly managed. It adds up over time, growing into an intimidatingly-large segment that takes up your Mac’s memory and causes the app itself to load slowly.”
Sometimes, this build-up in Spotify’s cache does more than simply lead to slower loading times, it actually causes Spotify to completely crash.
If you’ve been experiencing crashes when using the desktop version of Spotify then it’s a great idea to try clearing the cache.
How To Clear The Cache For Spotify On Your Mac
Ensure Spotify is closed before beginning the steps.
- With the Finder open, use the ‘Go menu’ to select ‘Go to Folder’.
- From here you’ll want to type in the following:
- ~/Library/Caches/
- Open up the com.spotify.client folder and then delete everything within it.
- Return to the ‘Library’ folder and find the folder named ‘Application Support‘ and open it.
- Search for Spotify and open it in order to search for the file named ‘prefs‘.
- Open ‘prefs’ using text editor and enter the following at the bottom of the text file:
- storage.size=1024
- Your Spotify cache size has now been limited to a size that should not hinder the application from running properly.
- Save the ‘prefs’ file.
- Return to the Spotify folder and find the ‘PersistentCache‘ folder and move it to trash.
- Empty your trash to complete the process.
How To Clear The Cache For Spotify On Your PC
If you’re a PC user and downloaded the Spotify app from the Spotify website, then follow these steps to be cache free:
- Launch ‘Run‘ by hitting the Win and R keys simultaneously.
- Enter “%LocalAppData%\Spotify\Storage\” into the search box and then hit return.
- You’ll want to delete the files from within the ‘Spotify Storage‘ folder, to do this select all the files and then hit the shift and delete keys.
- A pop-up will appear that requires you to confirm the action – choose ‘Yes‘.
Take the following steps if you’ve downloaded Spotify via the Windows Store:
- Open ‘Run‘ and enter: “%LocalAppData%\Packages\SpotifyAB.SpotifyMusic_zpdnekdrzrea0\LocalCache\Spotify\Data\“
- Once you hit return you’ll open Spotify’s ‘Data‘ folder and will need to delete all the files within it.
- Once again, remember to confirm the deletion of the files by selecting ‘Yes’.
Your Spotify Is Crashing Because It Requires An Update
Whether you’re using a Mac or a PC, Spotify can sometimes let you down by randomly crashing.
However, it may not be random at all, and in actual fact, your poor Spotify app just needs an update.
Updates help ensure that your apps run smoothly and are free of any glitches. Usually, an update will give an app more stability and Spotify is no exception.
Ensuring that you stay up-to-date with Spotify updates can reduce the chances that your app will crash. However, many users are unsure how to check whether their version of Spotify is up-to-date.
Moreover, it’s extremely helpful to know where within the app any new updates can be found for download.
Luckily, it’s a simple process to ensure your Spotify is running on the latest version or whether it needs an update.
The Basics Of Updating Your Version Of Spotify For Mac Or Windows:
- Whether you are on a Mac or PC, Spotify needs to be open to check for updates.
- Clicking the three dots will open up the Spotify menu.
- Select the last option – ‘Help‘
- Within the ‘Help’ pane you’ll see ‘About Spotify‘.
- Open ‘About Spotify’ and you’ll be able to tell which version you are running and whether you need to download an update.
- It is recommended that you download any updates that are available.
Your Desktop Verison Of Spotify Is Crashing Because Of The Hardware Acceleration Setting
Both Mac and PC users have found that one of Spotify’s default settings can be a cause of an unexpected crash.
The setting to blame in this case is called ‘Hardware Acceleration’ and strangely enough, it should improve performance.
However, some users have identified that the Hardware Acceleration setting is actually creating more issues than it solves.
You may find that the Hardware Acceleration setting has either been switched off or is on, but either way, if you’ve experienced frequent crashes whilst using Spotify, then it’s a good idea to try toggling it.
The following steps are almost identical whether you’re on a Mac or PC and will help you find the Hardware Acceleration setting and toggle it to on or off.
How To Disable Or Enable Hardware Acceleration (Mac):
This setting has been known to cause trouble for Spotify desktop users and is usually enabled as default.
If you find that it is disabled you can also try enabling it to see if that makes a difference, too.
- Open Spotify and then access the menu by clicking the three dots.
- Select ‘View’ from the drop-down menu and then choose ‘Hardware Acceleration’.
- Clicking this setting will toggle it on or off – indicated by a tick.
How To Disable Or Enable Hardware Acceleration (PC):
- Launch Spotify and open ‘Settings‘.
- Within ‘Settings’ locate the section named ‘Compatibility‘.
- Within ‘Compatibility’ you’ll see the option to toggle ‘enable hardware acceleration‘.
- Toggle this option on or off depending on how you find it.
Update Your Computer To Ensure That Spotify Does Not Crash
Compatibility issues can cause apps to crash.
If your Mac or PC is not fully up-to-date then it may be the reason that Spotify is crashing.
Ensuring that the system software is updated is therefore essential and, as helpdeskgeek.com makes clear:
“[it] should help fix any Spotify-related issues that stem from incompatibilities with the system software.”
Update Your Windows Computer For Spotify
Check for updates and ensure your Spotify app doesn’t run into incompatibility issues by following these steps:
- Open ‘Settings‘ from the Start menu.
- Select ‘Update & Security’ followed by ‘Windows Update‘.
- From this Window, you’ll be able to confirm if your computer needs an update.
- Download any updates necessary and install.
Update Your Mac For Spotify
If you’re a Mac owner then use the following steps:
- Open ‘System Preferences‘ from the Apple menu.
- Select ‘Software Update‘
- Choose to ‘Update Now‘ to ensure you have the most up-to-date version of MacOS
Please also check out our article exploring whether Spotify affects a computer’s performance.
Force Quitting The Spotify App & Restarting Can Solve A Crash
If you’ve been hit by a Spotify crash then the app is probably in need of a restart.
However, once Spotify has crashed it can be d